Burns: Three Things from a magic night in Music City

As Tampa Bay Lightning players filed onto the Nissan Stadium ice for pregame warmups prior to their Stadium Series debut against the Nashville Predators, Patrick Maroon skated around with a big grin on his face, hardly paying attention to the action in front of him, instead caught up in the moment of the experience, looking out into the stands at the more than 68,000 fans watching from a distance.
Before the game, the players talked about wanting to enjoy the moment of playing in the first outdoor game in franchise history. Yeah, it was a game that counted in the regular season standings and an important two points were on the line, but this was a special occasion that needed to be savored.
Clearly, Maroon understood the assignment.
So too did the rest of his teammates.

Saturday was a historic day for the Lightning franchise. And they made it a celebratory one as well after rallying from a goal down in the first period to defeat the Nashville Predators 3-2 at Nissan Stadium. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov netted back-to-back power-play goals to get the Lightning on the board and push them into the lead for good. Steven Stamkos tallied the game-winning goal at 11:31 of the third period, part of a three-point night for the Lightning captain. And Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26-of-28 saves, including a couple of critical stops down the stretch to preserve the one-goal win and register his NHL-leading 28th win of the season.
"Absolutely incredible. Just such a cool atmosphere," Point told the NHL Network right after the game. "The crowd was rocking for both sides. There was a lot of noise for both teams. Want to thank all the Tampa fans that came out. We had a great showing. The boys really appreciated it."
The game had a college bowl feel, played inside a packed NFL stadium with both fanbases going back and forth chanting "Let's go Lightning" or "Let's go Predators." When Nashville scored first, a huge roar erupted from the stadium. When the Lightning answered, the noise from the Bolts side was just as loud.
There was animosity too between the two teams who were division rivals a year ago in a revamped Central Division. Patrick Maroon dropped the gloves with Michael McCarron 10 minutes into the contest. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare got into his first fight as a member of the Lightning, right before the Bolts took the lead a quarter of the way through the second period.
All in all, the stadium series game between the Bolts and Preds had a little bit of everything.
Most importantly, it concluded as a Lightning win.

1. BOLTS TAKE BROADWAY
The Lightning didn't just win on the scoreboard Saturday night.
Bolts Nation showed up in full force throughout the weekend in Nashville, so much so sometimes it was hard to tell who the home team was and who was visiting.
When the Lightning arrived in Music City Friday afternoon, there were already thousands of Tampa Bay fans crowding the streets around the city's famed Broadway strip, proudly displaying their Lightning gear and offering a "Go Bolts" to anybody passing by with similar gear.
Lightning players certainly noticed the tremendous fan support.
"I took a walk right when we got to the hotel, and I didn't see anyone that wasn't a Lightning fan," Alex Killorn said after the team practiced at Nissan Stadium Friday. "It was wild. I talked to some people that were out and about last night and they told me there were some Lightning chants going on in some bars. Maybe we saw a lot of them because we were around the hotels and I'm sure there are going to be a lot of Nashville fans tomorrow night, but walking around town it did seem like there was a ton of fans. The support in Tampa is so great. They've been talking about this for a long time. I think the city of Nashville helps a lot because they enjoy coming here, but it was great."
The outdoor game was Tampa Bay's first as a franchise. Certainly, the uniqueness of the event and the Lightning being invited to participate for the first time led to so many fans making the 10-hour drive or hour-and-a-half flight up to Nashville to witness it. Like Killorn mentioned too, Nashville is a great city for visitors and features a multitude of businesses set up around tourism, so the fans traveled knew they would have a good time regardless.
But don't discredit the dedication and devotion of Bolts Nation either. Remember, this is a franchise that has an active sellout streak of 259 games, the longest-such streak in the NHL currently. The Tampa Bay area supports the Lightning like no other, and the Stadium Series game in Nashville was another showcase.
Really, at this point, we shouldn't be surprised. It should be expected Bolts Nation will show up and show out.
"Nothing we've been a part of before, especially the guys that have only played in Tampa, this is our first as an organization," Victor Hedman said. "This is a great moment for us to be a part of this. You're seeing the last couple of days a lot of blue and white outside. We've got a great following coming here with us. We're super excited to make them proud."
No doubt, the team did with their hard-fought, 3-2 victory over the Predators that has them now just one point behind Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division and ahead of the Panthers based on point percentage.
"We're extremely fortunate to have the fan base that we've had," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "For the players, this is a great experience. But our fans have been waiting for something like this for a long time too. It's going to be great to share that with them."

2. A SHARED EXPERIENCE
The Stadium Series game wasn't just about the Lightning players sharing the experience with Bolts Nation.
It was also a unique opportunity for them to make once-in-a-lifetime memories with their friends and family.
In addition to the charter plane that shuttled the players to Nashville, there was a separate family plane that made the trip up a few hours later that carried wives, girlfriends, children, parents and anybody else close to the players who could make the trip.
When the Lightning held their practice session at Nissan Stadium Friday night in preparation for the big game, their family was there along the glass to watch. And then once the serious business was completed, the doors opened and the families got to skate on the ice with the players, which a lot of them said was their favorite moment from the entire weekend.
"These are what you soak up as a father," Ryan McDonagh said. "You want to give a glimpse to your kids what your job is like. Obviously, this is a little different spectacle than just going to AMALIE Arena. Still, just being able to share the ice with them, share their excitement, you see the joy in their faces. That's what sharing the game and participating in things like this does, grows the game, gets people excited. It's a great opportunity for us to soak it in with family and friends and make the most of it."
After the practice and family skate, the Lightning team hotel hosted a dinner complete with a two-piece band providing musical accompaniment that all were invited to attend.
The morning of the game, there was a team breakfast for the players and their families, which never happens on a typical game day. And after the game, the team bussed to Acme Feed and Seed, a southern restaurant right across the river from the stadium where more food, drinks and music were enjoyed.
There was the business of winning the game and collecting an important two points during the team's trip to Nashville.
But it was also about allowing the families an opportunity to revel in the experience too.
"That's what these events are all about, just to share them with your family and your teammates and the people that are always there and always have your back," Stamkos said.

3. A NEAR-HISTORIC PACE
The Stadium Series was the 51st game of the regular season for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After the 3-2 victory, they improved to 34-11-6 on the season, acquiring (or munching, as Jon Cooper likes to say) 74 points, putting themselves in a great position to return to the playoffs for the eighth time in Cooper's nine full seasons as head coach.
That point total is also, remarkably, just four points off the pace through 51 games set by the historic 2018-19 team that would go on to tie the NHL record for most wins in a regular season (62).
That season, which ended dubiously for the Bolts with a four-game sweep in the first round, followed by the back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons and now this season's near-record pace proves the Lightning are the premier franchise in the National Hockey League.
The Stadium Series game was a just reward for how good this team has been for so many years.
Frankly, it was overdue.
"I think over the past couple years we've done pretty well and hopefully gained some fans along the way," Killorn said. "It seems like people are excited to have us in this game, just like Nashville who's done really well in the past. I think it's kind of interesting that both of us are not traditional market teams but our fan bases are great and they've grown a ton since we've been in the league. It's kind of cool that we're both in the game."
What makes the Lightning's current run even more remarkable is they've had to do it without some of their marquee players for long stretches. Nikita Kucherov played in just his 16th game in Nashville after sustaining an upper-body injury in the third game of the season that kept him out for 32 contests. He already has 10 multi-point games out of those 16 games played. Imagine the totals he could have put up this season if he were able to play a full season?
Likewise, Brayden Point missed 14 games from an upper-body injury sustained while getting pushed from behind into the end boards on a breakaway. He scored his 20th goal of the season in the Stadium Series win to get the Bolts on the scoreboard and tie the game 1-1 early in the second period.
And then there were the COVID absences the Lightning had to deal with around the holiday break when they lost three in a row, getting smashed in Sunrise by the Florida Panthers and then dropping both ends of a home-and-home with the New York Rangers.
If the Lightning don't suffer that COVID outbreak, there's a very real chance they could be at or ahead of their point pace from that historic season.
With the win over the Predators in the Stadium Series, the Lightning improved to 7-1-1 over their last nine games, this despite the on-again, off-again nature of the schedule recently.
"It's been kind of difficult," Killorn admitted. "We've had six days off, game, six days off, game. I think we've done a good job with this stretch. Now we've got the tough games going into the playoffs, so we just want to make sure we keep playing well."
Enjoy these moments, these games and these players, Bolts Nation.
We truly are experiencing the golden era of Tampa Bay Lightning hockey.